Date Night Dinners
Date night Dinners
Impressive (but easy), these hearty, comfort food-inspired recipes require a bit of prep but then can be left untended, leaving you plenty of time to get ready for a romantic night in.
Winter Salad with Pomegranate Seeds
This simple salad is a perfect first course for any winter menu.
Roasted Fish with Caponata
This dish is quick, simple, and light. The fish takes 10 minutes to cook, and the caponata tastes best when made ahead. This recipe makes extra caponata: It’s great on crostini or served with eggs for breakfast.
Easy Braised Short Ribs
This is sort of a cheat’s short rib recipe, as it doesn’t involve any straining of vegetables or reducing of sauces—who has time for that, anyway? The prep is fairly simple and the end result is rich and tender, but it does need to cook for three hours so be sure to plan ahead. These are great on their own, but if you have time serve them over mashed potatoes or polenta.
Kale and Butternut Squash Lasagna
Even carnivores won’t miss the meat in this vegetarian lasagna. The different components do take some prep time, but the whole thing can be made and assembled up to a day in advance. Crescenza (also sometimes called stracchino) is a creamy Italian cheese and a great addition here; if you can’t find it, though, feel free to skip it.
Slightly Salted Brownie Cake
This dessert is almost as easy to make as boxed brownies and so much more impressive. Make the batter in the morning, pour into ramekins, and store in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.
